A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to games and more particularly to an electronic board game that provides aural and visual indications of the progress of the game to the game participant.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Various board games are known wherein a matrix arranged play area or array of playing elements are utilized over which players move tokens in a manner described by the rules of the game.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,723 which issued to B. Colling et al on Sept. 2, 1975 discloses an electronic board game having a start position and a stop position with each player moving an indicator or a counter from the start position to the stop position in response to randomly generated instructions from the machine. Instructions are generated in a random sequence and each player strives to stop the machine when an instruction that is advantageous to him is generated.
Another electronic board game wherein a counter is moved from one location to another along a matrix is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,072 which issued to L. C. Kurtz on Apr. 12, 1977. The matrix includes a plurality of scoring elements for each player and the object of the game is for each player to attempt to place the counter on one of his scoring elements while preventing the other player from doing the same.
Another board game utilizing a matrix array is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,253 which issued to F. S. Csoka on Nov. 8, 1977. In this game, each player is provided with a game board and each player draws a maze path or selects a maze path from a deck of maze path cards. Each player conceals his maze path from the other player. A token piece is used for moving in steps from one array position to another as the maze path is defined. Each player attempts to define the concealed maze path of the other by asking questions.
While the above described game devices are generally suitable according to their intended use and provide amusement and interest, there is a constant need for improved electronic board game devices.